Paula Moore
Paula's Sky Dive, Bournemouth Half Marathon and Great South Run
Fundraising for MOSAIC - Supporting Bereaved Children
Story
I am raising money for the Charity "Mosaic" which helps bereaved children by doing a Tandem Skydive on 24th September 2017, taking part in the Bournemouth half-marathon on 8th October 2017 with My Sister, Kirsty and taking part in the Great South Run on 22nd October 2017
Teddy and I were in a restaurant over Easter and the waiter asked him if his Daddy was working today? My heart sunk because I clearly knew this wasn't the best subject to bring up with a heartbroken 4 year old. But when he replied to the waiter in the most confident manner without getting upset - "No, my Daddy is in the sky because he had something in his tummy called cancer" I knew that he would be Ok and he understood and that was all down to the help of Mosaic.
My Little Boy, Teddy was 2 when we were told that at the age of 32 hisDad had Pancreatic Cancer and only had months to live. The hardest day of my life was telling that Little Boy that his Dad had died and couldn't come back. His Dad was his best friend and the one who always made him laugh.
He seemed ok for a few weeks, would look at the stars each night and say "Hello" to Daddy, he didn't understand at first. As time when on my happy Little Boy had changed, his behaviour was becoming challenging, being naughty at home and at pre-school, being rude. I spent many a night sitting and crying because his behaviour was down to the fact he had lost his Dad and he didn't understand and I couldn't bring him back for him. He would ask questions about cancer and death that any Mother would find hard to answer. He would say his Dad didn't love him because he wasn't here with him. The day his Dad died, his Dad collapsed in front of him while taking him to the toilet and he used to say it was his fault that Daddy went to the sky. I am a strong person and can cope with most things but having your Son so hurt and lashing out was bigger than me and I knew he needed help.
Thats when I was put in contact with Mosaic. They came to our house and played with Teddy, spoke to him, brought up his Dad, introduced the word death, they did activities that made him remember his dad, made him understand that having sad feelings were ok and how to deal with them. After the initial help, he went to an afternoon at AFC Bournemouth to play on the pitch and he loved it and brought back happy memories of his Dad.